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One Day at a Time - Chapter 7 - Birth

Series Chapter Index | Read on AO3 | Complete

Rating: Explicit, 18+, here be smut Series tags: The Last of Us, The Last of Us (HBO), Joel Miller x f!OFC, Joel & Ellie, mostly follows canon, SMUT, gratuitous smut, dubious consent (drunk sex), unplanned pregnancy, fluff, references to past miscarriages, angst, hurt/comfort, romance, age gap (~21 years), childbirth, fluffy baby stuff, I've probably forgotten some so please let me know <3

~*~

It’s December. They passed the date Joel circled on the calendar three days ago and the waiting is slowly driving them mad.

Charlie wakes up restless and frustrated, unable to get comfortable, exhausted but unable to sleep. The baby is restless, too–kicking her ribs, pushing against her lungs, making it hard to take a deep breath. She’s snappish and moody and leaks tears over the smallest things.

They’ve run out of fruits and have settled on calling the baby Pumpkin because it’s the biggest, even though Charlie hates it, she tells him, because the idea of pushing a fucking gourd out of her vagina makes for a horrible mental image.

She’s ready for this to be over.

He’s not ready at all.

On the fourth day, Joel radioes Tommy and tells him to find someone to cover his patrol shift. Something tells him he needs to stay home. He putters about looking for things to do to fill the time. He nails down the loose floorboard in the upstairs hall and patches the tack holes in the wall and fixes the dripping faucet in his bathroom and oils the squeaky hinges on the doors. When that’s done, he goes looking for projects in Ellie’s garage, but she turns him away at the door.

“Nuh-uh, nope. Not happening. The last time you were in here to ‘fix’ something it took three weeks and I ended up with a wall of bookshelves.”

“But you love your shelves,” he says. He looks over her shoulder, eyeing a mostly empty corner. “You could use more storage–”

“You don’t have that kinda time now, dude.”

So he leaves, nesting instinct unfulfilled, and finds himself pacing the floor.

“You’re hovering,” Charlie mutters from her place on the couch after he’s asked for the fourth time if he can get her anything. “You should have gone to work.”

“Like hell,” he growls at the idea of being miles away on horseback, outside the walls and away from her.

They still don’t have a name, a cradle, or any clothes beyond the soft yellow sleeper. Maria, recognizing that the situation was delicate, had dropped off a stack of cloth diapers. They sit in a bag next to the front door, untouched.

That night they assume their usual positions; him propped up against the headboard with his reading glasses and the book, and Charlie on her side, pillows tucked around her in a makeshift nest. His hand finds her stomach, but the baby is quieter now, too cramped to move much.

Charlie squirms, grumbles, shifts, and retucks the blanket and pillows. It takes an hour for her to fall into a restless doze, and he keeps reading the same lines over and over, too distracted and keyed up to sleep. Her stomach tightens under his hand, the baby pressing the hard plane of its back into his palm.

Then it happens again. And again. Every few minutes.

He checks his watch by force of habit, forgetting for the millionth time that it hasn’t worked in twenty years. He notes the time on the bedside clock instead, 10:54.

11:06. 11:12. 11:25.

At 11:38, her hand clutches his fingers and she lets out a soft moan.

“Joel…?”

“M’here,” he says, knowing what she’s going to say.

“I think this is it.”

~*~

“I don’t want her here.”

“I know, but–”

Charlie’s eyes are bright and forceful. “Not yet, Joel. I will not deal with that woman. Not yet.”

He gets it. The midwife is the last person he wants to see, either. But she’s the one with the training and experience.

“We have to at least let her know.”

Charlie scowls, then shuts her eyes, taking a deep breath.

“Another one?”

She nods, distracted, and he looks at the clock. 1:03.

“They’re not close together yet,” Charlie says when the contraction passes. “The book says five minutes.”

“The book assumes we can go to a hospital,” Joel counters, and she shoots him a black look. “Look, I’ll tell her to stay put until you’re closer, but–”

“No,” Charlie says, soft but firm. “And would you sit? You’re making me nervous.”

He does then, sitting on the bed, forced to wallow in his terror. Had it been this bad with Sarah? No, because there had been nurses and doctors and an epidural that had eased the way considerably if he didn’t think too hard about the length of the needle and where it went.

He’d also been twenty-two and blissfully ignorant. He hadn’t known loss, hadn’t known just how bad it could get. He sees every little way this could go wrong and the fear clutches at his heart and holds fast.

Charlie takes his hand and squeezes. “We can do this.”

He doesn’t know if he can, but he squeezes back and watches as she folds over her belly in concentration when the next contraction takes hold.

~*~

She labors on the bed, walking around, rocking in the chair, pressing tight fists to her lower back. He fills her water glass from the bathroom tap and washes his hands fifteen times, even though he hasn’t so much as touched her beyond letting her grip his fingers during the worst ones.

Ellie comes in to get breakfast before school. He hears her downstairs, calling for him.

“Go,” Charlie says from her current position, curled on the bed with a pillow between her knees. “She needs you. I’m fine.”

He’s still dressed in pajamas; gray sweatpants and a white tee, hair mussed and eyes red-rimmed. Ellie takes him in, raises an eyebrow in a silent question.

“Yeah, she’s in labor,” he says. “Gonna be a day.”

“I’ll make coffee.”

“You don’t have to do that, kiddo.”

She eyes him up and down, scoffs. “You need it, dude.”

“Thanks,” he says. “I’m, uh, I’m gonna let Tommy and Maria know…if I can find the damn radio…”

“You brought it upstairs, remember?”

Right. He kept the radio by the bed just in case Charlie went into labor in the night. Of course.

“Thanks, kid,” he says thickly, suddenly awash in gratitude with a lump in his throat.

“Go,” she says, already scooping coffee grounds into the pot on the stove. “I can burn my own toast.”

He doesn’t taste the coffee, or the not-burnt toast Ellie brings up, enough for both him and Charlie.

The midwife shows up sometime before noon and does nothing to put them at ease.

“I need to make this quick. I’ve got another patient across town and it’s not good.”

Joel stands in the doorway with his hands on his hips. “Don’t you have a…a backup or somethin’?”

“Does it look like I have backup?” she snaps.

She proceeds with the exam with her usual curt efficiency as Joel paces.

“You’re three centimeters,” she says to Charlie eventually, shucking her gloves off. “It’s going to be a while. Get comfortable. Stay hydrated.”

And then she’s gone.

Joel wants to follow the woman outside and drag her back and chain her to the radiator until the baby is delivered safely. It’s either that or strangle her. But Charlie’s pitiful moan from the bed douses the flames of his anger immediately.

“Get comfortable? Is she fucking kidding,” she wails, gripping him tight. “I hate her.”

“I know, I know,” he says. “We’ll…figure something out.”

He calls the only other person he knows who has first-hand experience with childbirth; his sister-in-law.

Maria suggests a beer and a bath; something about the alcohol and warm water acting like natural muscle relaxants. Charlie, exhausted and in pain, is willing to try anything. She sips the beer and undresses as he fills the tub, grateful to have something to do.

He helps her into the bath and kneels on the floor beside it, resting his forearms on the rim and watching over her like a sentinel. Her belly rises out of the water, a glazed wet dome, every contraction causing the water to ripple around her as she grimaces and arches and groans.

Sometimes she comes out of her fog of pain and blinks up at him as if seeing him for the first time, and it makes his heart clench.

“I’m glad it’s you,” she murmurs in one of those quiet moments.

“Yeah?” He dabs a washcloth at her temple, urges her to drink while she’s relaxed.

He hears Maria downstairs, probably boiling water and sanitizing things and doing all the things he should be doing but can’t because he can’t leave Charlie’s side.

He’s scared. He’s never been this scared.

He remembers sitting in the hospital and praying when Sarah was born. He wasn’t a praying man, not even then, but it had seemed the only thing he could do. Now he thinks of her, of his first baby girl, and he silently asks for her help. He doesn’t believe in God, but he does believe in her.

~*~

“Joel?”

A hesitant voice at the bedroom door. Joel rouses himself from his place by the tub. Charlie has relaxed a little, but the contractions are still ferocious. Her cries echo in the small space and he winces every time, wishing he could do something, anything to take this away from her.

“Be right back,” he whispers, leaning over to place a kiss on Charlie’s forehead. She nods but doesn’t open her eyes.

Ellie is standing in his bedroom looking small and lost.

“Hey, kiddo,” he croaks. “What’s up?”

She hesitates at the door. “Maria’s downstairs. She, uh, said there’s dinner if you want it. We’re gonna watch a movie.”

He nods. “Good. I’ll eat…later.”

“Maria said you’d say that. She also said to tell you not to wait too long or you’ll pass out like your brother did when Izzy was born.”

Joel snorts. “Alright, I hear ya.”

There’s a groan from the bathroom, a low, primal keen of need that Joel has to physically restrain himself from answering. Ellie’s eyes grow wide.

“You okay, kid?”

She swallows hard. “I just…is this, uh…normal?”

“Yeah, sure, yeah,” he says, trying to imbue his words with a certainty he doesn’t feel. “The first one is always slow.”

“It sounds fucking awful,” she grimaces. “Was it like this with Sarah?”

“A little, I guess. I don’t…honestly remember. We had drugs back then,” he mutters, rubbing the back of his neck. God, what he’d give to live in a world with epidurals again. He’d take a needle to the back himself if it meant Charlie didn’t have to go through this. He’d take worse.

Ellie looks at him then, soulful brown eyes, and her face crumples, mirroring the fear he’s kept an iron-tight grip on all day.

“Baby girl,” he murmurs, closing the distance between them and tucking her against his chest. “S’alright. It’s gonna be fine. Charlie’s doing good. She’s strong. The baby’s fine. Just…takes a while.”

“I’m never having kids,” she mutters in a watery sigh, muffled by the fabric of his t-shirt.

He huffs a soft laugh into her hair, rubbing her back. “Don’t blame you. You don’t have to be scared, though.”

He pulls away, cups her face in his hands, and kisses her forehead.

“S’worth it…can tell you that much.”

She drags a sleeve across her face and nods. “Should I bring up a plate?”

“Yeah. That’d be good, kiddo. Thanks.”

~*~

Hours pass. There’s a cold plate of food on the floor by the door and a melted bowl of strawberry ice cream next to the bathroom sink. Joel had three bites for dinner; chicken, mashed potatoes, and something green. Everything tasted like paste, which was not a slight on Maria’s cooking, only that he couldn’t take his focus off Charlie. She’d opted for the ice cream and had done better than him, eating half the bowl in slow, measured spoonfuls in between contractions.

Eventually, the hot water tank is drained and the bath grows tepid, forcing her out. She stands in the middle of the bathroom, leaning into Joel’s chest as he dries her off and wraps her in a robe.

“You doin’ okay?” he asks, rubbing her back as she shivers. “You cold?”

She shakes her head. “Just tired.”

“Bed?”

She nods, then digs her fingers into his arm as a contraction hits.

“Ohhhh, fuck.”

“I got you,” he murmurs, although he’s swaying on his feet, so tired he’s slurring his words. He’s been up for thirty-something hours; when he tries to do the math, everything gets fuzzy at the edges. Then he remembers he’s not the one with a vise grip rearranging his internal organs. He forces his eyes open.

“Bed,” he says firmly when she’s no longer clutching at him, urging her along.

She curls on her side and he faces her, giving her his hand to squeeze. She tucks it against her cheek, closing her eyes as her abdomen tightens again. The water and the beer seem to have helped; she’s quieter, at least.

“Hurts,” she whimpers, a permanent furrow taking up residence between her brows.

“I know,” he soothes, brushing a damp tendril of hair from her forehead. “What can I do?”

She shakes her head.

At some point, she slides his hand under her robe. The baby moves under his palm. For now, everyone is safe. For a little while, he can pretend this is any other night, just the three of them tucked in bed together.

Then she arches and moans, grabbing at him, drawing out his name into multiple syllables.

“Yeah, I know, baby. I know. M’here,” he says, feeling the panic inside begin to take over. He’s so fucking helpless he could cry.

Then she kisses him, pulling his mouth to hers, urgent and needy, and he tastes strawberries. She grasps at the hem of his t-shirt, urging it over his head, suddenly desperate to feel his skin. When she pushes his hand down to the small furnace burning between her bare thighs, the message is loud and clear.

“You want…that? Now?”

“Mmhm, please,” she moans, a breathy little hitch that, under normal circumstances, would have him rock-hard and struggling to restrain himself. As it is, he’s too tired to protest. He can’t deny her anything.

They’ve done this dozens of times since they started sharing his bed. She’s soft and swollen and slick under his fingers. The orgasms come easily and seem to dilute the pain. Soon she’s stretched out against him, one leg thrown over his hips, nuzzling into his chest, and neither of them can keep their eyes open.

~*~

He’s jolted out of sleep by Charlie’s fierce grip on his hand and a sound that’s almost animal from her throat.

“M’here,” he groans, cursing himself for falling asleep. “Right here.”

He sits up, glancing at the clock; they’d been given an hour and a half of respite.

“She means business,” Charlie mutters through gritted teeth, clutching her stomach and getting to her feet.

“She, huh?”

Charlie doesn’t answer, fumbling with the sash of her robe. “Need…this…off.”

He gets up, helps slide the robe off her shoulders and she leans back into him, naked, hips swaying.

Refueled by ice cream and sleep, she’s restless; no position can bring relief. Time stretches in front of them, a series of back-to-back contractions that force sounds from her throat that Joel has never heard and never wants to hear again.

She finally settles on her knees at the edge of the bed, arms wrapped around him, pressing her face into his neck. Her pained sobs wrench at him, something animal, and it’s all he can do not to cry in frustration. Instead, he babbles outright lies into her hair, doin’ so good baby, s’almost over, almost done, she’ll be here soon .

She , he thinks dully, then the pain comes and her groan into his neck washes the thought away. Her water breaks, a warm gush down her thighs, and he has the sense that things are about to move fast.

“We need to call the midwife,” he whispers, and he knows it’s serious when Charlie doesn’t protest, just nods limply into his shoulder.

He doesn’t remember calling for Maria, but she’s at the door, radio in hand. She meets his eyes over Charlie’s shoulder, gives him a tight look and shakes her head.

There’s no midwife.

Fuck.

“Okay, okay,” he breathes, quashing down his dread. “Looks like you’re stuck with me.”

Time ceases to make sense; minutes pass in seconds, seconds pass in minutes. Towels and blankets appear on the other side of the bed. He’s vaguely aware of Maria’s movements on the other side of the door, thinks he hears Tommy and Ellie’s voices at times.

Charlie remains on her knees on the bed, arms locked around his neck, shuddering against him through every contraction. His back is throbbing from the lack of movement, but he won’t budge unless she tells him to.

He doesn’t know how long they stay like that. He closes his eyes and holds her and whispers words he hopes she can hear from the depths of her pain.

Later, he’ll blame sleep deprivation for the visions. He sees Sarah, alive and smiling, wearing her favorite Halican Drops t-shirt and handing him a glass of orange juice. He sees Ellie laughing and holding out bright green leaves to a giraffe in the Salt Lake City park. They calm him, silencing the frightened voice inside that reminds him how much he stands to lose.

Eventually, Charlie pulls away, bracing her hands on his shoulders, grimacing.

“I need…I need–”

“Think you need to push?”

“I don’t…know. It feels…different.”

“Different bad? Or different good?”

“I don’t know,” she huffs. “I don’t…I just…”

He urges her backward away from the edge of the bed before another contraction hits. Her fingers tighten on his shoulders and she bears down, a tentative, hesitant little push.

“That was good,” he whispers, grabbing one of the clean towels behind her. “Let’s try again with the next one.”

~*~

The next hour passes in flashes, small moments he will remember for the rest of his life.

Joel’s hand covering Charlie’s as she feels for the baby, her panting as she bears down again and again and again.

The pressure of the baby’s head against his palm, the dark, slick hair emerging from the depths of her body as the baby crowns.

The warm, wet weight of a tiny body sliding into his outstretched hands in a sudden, slippery rush.

Charlie’s awed, trembling whisper in his ear, a girl, it’s a girl .

Clutching the child against his bare stomach with one arm as his other arm wraps Charlie’s waist and eases her back against the headboard.

The endless seconds of silence as he rubs the length of her tiny back with firm strokes, c’mon baby girl, c’mon, breathe for me .

The elation when he feels her first breath, feels her tiny lungs inflate under his palm as their daughter comes to life with a roar.

~*~

He vaguely registers a whooping from outside the bedroom, but his world has narrowed to three people. He’s kissing Charlie’s forehead, whispering nonsense into her hair, did so good, baby, so good, so good .

Then there’s the baby in his arms, his daughter, and she’s shaking, why is the baby shaking?

Then he realizes it’s him, his hands are trembling, the aftermath of the adrenaline rush hitting hard and turning his limbs to jelly. He needs to put her down, he’s terrified he’s going to drop her, but he can’t make himself let go, can’t stop looking at her, squirming, little legs and arms kicking and flailing as she arches against him, so strong, he thinks, she’s so goddamn strong–

“Please–” he grits out, trying to find the words, feeling frozen as the panic creeps back in.

Then Charlie is there, her hands over his, gently extracting the squalling baby and pulling her onto her chest with soft whispers, yes sweet girl, I know, tell us, I know .

He reaches for the closest thing he can find to cover the child–his t-shirt, worn and soft and smelling like him–and tucks it around her tiny frame. Then he grabs a clean blanket from the stack Maria left on the bed and drapes it over Charlie’s trembling shoulders and back, careful not to cover the baby.

Charlie’s silver eyes are bright and shining as she studies the little girl in her arms, drawing a fingertip down the tiny arch of her nose, her ear, the soft fur of her eyebrows. She smiles so big it makes something in his chest splinter and crack.

He wants to make her smile like that for the rest of his life. He wants to cover their bodies with his and hold them still in this moment forever, keeping the rest of the world at bay.

But he can’t, so he tries to make himself useful. He cuts the cord. He fetches warm washcloths, strips the soiled bedding, fusses, and paces until Charlie catches him by the arm as he’s checking her full water glass for the second time.

“Joel, stop,” she says softly. “Look at her.”

He’s afraid if he stops, he’ll break the fuck down, but she pulls him onto the bed next to them.

“Look at her,” she repeats.

The baby turns her head toward her mother, seeking, and Joel watches as Charlie attempts to latch her, the tiny mouth closing over one dark nipple, and his heart feels like it’s going to turn inside out.

~*~

He walks downstairs on wooden legs to expectant faces. Ellie, perched on the couch next to Maria, lights up when she sees him.

The words catch in his throat. “You’ve got a sister.”

The relief on her face is palpable. Then she’s off the couch, meeting him at the foot of the stairs. She almost reaches out, then hesitates, like something might have changed between them.

“C’mere,” he mutters, folding her into his arms, and that’s when the tears finally come, relief and joy and sadness all muddled together. He holds his daughter, a lifeline to his past and a gateway to his future all in one.

He meets Maria’s eyes over her shoulder and gives her a silent nod of thanks. He doesn’t think he’ll ever be able to do enough work around Jackson to pay for her kindness.

“You can, uh, come up and see her,” he sniffs when he can safely speak again. “Both of you.”

“You go,” says Maria to Ellie. “You need some time together. As a family. I’ll bring Tommy and Izzy by later.”

Joel’s throat closes up again. As a family.

“C’mon, kid,” he chokes out. “Let’s go meet your sister.”

~*~

The midwife misses the birth by three hours. When she finally arrives, she looks haggard, with dark circles under her eyes and her sharp tongue dulled. She assesses Charlie and the baby with her usual efficiency, but she’s quiet about it. Maybe she finally senses Joel’s mood, or maybe she’s just as exhausted as them.

She asks them questions about the birth, examines the placenta, and makes a few notes.

“The bleeding should taper off after about a week. Some cramping is normal, but if you’re soaking more than a pad an hour, you need to tell me.”

Joel still hovers, hulking over the midwife with his arms crossed, biceps flexing, jaw set. If he thought he felt protective over Charlie before, the baby’s presence has made him fucking feral. He’s practically vibrating when Joanie takes the baby to examine her and weigh her, and Charlie’s touch on his arm is the only thing that stops him from growling and spitting like a wild animal.

Joanie unwraps the baby from her bundle and listens to her breathing and her heart, tests her reflexes, and nods, apparently satisfied. Then she swaddles her back up and hands her to Charlie.

“She looks great,” she says flatly. “You’re lucky.”

The unspoken implication gives him pause; others had not been so lucky.

“Put her on the breast every hour,” Joanie continues. “Let her nurse as much as she wants. It’ll help your milk production and boost her immunity. If she starts losing weight or she’s not getting enough from you, there’s a donor program. We don’t have formula, but she won’t starve.”

Then she’s packing up her things, saying she’ll be back in the morning to check in, and to radio if there’s an emergency.

“And congratulations,” she says before taking her leave. Maybe he’s delirious from lack of sleep, but he thinks he sees the old woman crack a smile.

~*~

“So what’s her name?”

That evening, Ellie holds the baby in her lap in the rocker, cradling her bundled sleeping form along her thighs with her head cupped in her palms.

Joel looks at Charlie, raising an eyebrow.

“You still haven’t named the poor kid? Sheesh.”

“She’s eight hours old,” Joel grumbles.

“Consider us open to suggestions,” Charlie yawns.

Ellie considers the little bundle in her lap, sizing her up. “How about…Sally Ride? Sally Ride Miller.”

She looks at Joel expectantly.

“Uh…”

Then her lips twitch and she can’t hold back her smile. “I’m just fuckin’ with you, dude.”

“Oh,” he sighs, a hiss of relief.

“They’re too easy, kid,” she murmurs to her baby sister, still grinning. “Too easy. We’re gonna have so much fun, you and me.”

Joel feels his knees hit the back of the bed and he sags down, watching his children. There’s that pesky tightness in his throat and a fullness in his chest, and he distantly feels Charlie’s hand in his.

“But seriously…the kid needs a name,” Ellie says. She considers the baby thoughtfully, then softens. “What about…Anna?”

Joel digs deep into his tired memory. “After your mom?”

“Yeah,” Ellie says, then shrugs. “But she kinda looks like an Anna, too.”

Charlie smiles, squeezes his hand. “Anna? I like that.”

“Anna,” he agrees thickly, the only word he can choke out because he’s fucking crying again.

~*~

The first night passes in shifts. They don’t have a cradle, so they take turns holding the baby– Anna , he thinks, she has a name now, Anna –while she sleeps, in between feedings and diaper changes.

Joel knows he should sleep, but he doesn’t want to miss a second; Anna’s barely there weight in his arms, the way his hand spans her back, the softness of her downy head. She smells like her mother, all warm milk and honey. Sometimes she looks up at him with big, gray eyes that remind him of Sarah’s, and his heart cracks and mends itself and cracks again.

In the morning, he comes out of a doze to the sound of voices and the smell of food downstairs. Charlie is nudging him, baby at her breast.

“We have company. She’s done and I want to shower.”

He wipes at his eyes and takes the baby, holding her to his shoulder to rub her back. He whispers her name, marveling at how perfect it feels on his tongue.

Charlie moves slowly, visibly achy, and he gets up to wrap his free arm around her waist, giving her something to hold as she makes her way to the bathroom on wobbly legs.

“You okay?”

“Just sore. Hot water will help,” she murmurs, but she lets him lead her to the bath and leans on him when she strips out of her clothes.

He stays in the bathroom with the baby on his chest, trying and failing not to hover even when Charlie has stepped into the shower and turned on the water, steam rolling out from behind the curtain along with a groan of pleasure.

“I’m fine, Joel,” she says, poking her head out, then looking down at her feet with a grimace. “It’s a fucking bloodbath in here. You don’t need to see this.”

He leaves reluctantly, keeping the door cracked, then pulls out clothes–sweatpants, one of his t-shirts, underwear, wool socks, one of the thick cloth pads Maria must have brought up with all the other linens.

Anna begins to fuss, so he lays her on the bed and attempts to change her diaper, missing the ease of disposables and their velcro tabs.

“I know, kiddo, almost done,” he mutters as Anna protests the cold, kicking as he fumbles with the folds. It’s coming back to him slowly, the rhythm of the early days with Sarah familiar but also new. Eat, diaper, sleep, repeat.

After a thought, he pulls the yellow pajamas out of the nightstand and dresses her. The outfit is too big, bunching around her legs and arms, but he knows it won’t stay that way for long.

“Better?” he asks when she’s curled against his chest again, warm and soft in the fleecy pajamas. She doesn’t answer, of course, but she quiets, wide eyes blinking at nothing. He finds himself talking to her, low and slow as he paces.

“Been a long day, huh? Think you’ll let your mama sleep for a bit? You did a number on her. And me. Took your damn time,” he murmurs, smiling into her hair. “But that’s alright. Lotta folks excited to meet you, y’know.”

He doesn’t know how long Charlie has been watching from the bathroom doorway, wrapped in a towel, smiling faintly. Her eyes are dark-rimmed and there’s a trickle of blood dripping down her inner thigh, and he thinks she has never looked more beautiful.

She dresses slowly, then reaches for the baby, eyeing the yellow sleeper. “Where’d you get this?”

“Found it at the post a while ago,” he murmurs, ducking his head. “Reminded me of Sarah.”

“It’s perfect,” she smiles softly, then gives him a hesitant sniff, wrinkling her nose. “You need a shower, too.”

“That bad, huh?”

“Mmhm.”

The thought of being separated from them for even a minute makes his skin crawl, but he ducks into the bathroom and shucks off his clothes. He barely feels the water, probably doesn’t get the soap fully rinsed from his body and doesn’t care. Charlie has already taken Anna downstairs by the time he gets out, and he throws on sweats and a t-shirt, not bothering to comb his hair.

He hears their voices drifting up the stairwell—Tommy’s low rumble and Isabel’s toddler giggle and Maria’s soft cooing over the baby, Charlie and Ellie’s lighter tones mingling in.

The sounds stop him on the landing, where he grasps the railing and leans against the wall for support. For one bright, painful moment, he could swear he hears Sarah’s laughter among them.

#fanfic #fic recs #joel miller #the last of us hbo #the last of us #babyfic #pregnancy

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arizaluca · 3 months

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“… are you ready?” “You asked me that already.” “Well, this time it’s the meaning you said the first time around.” Leshy, burrowing into the blankets and startling Narinder awake at the dead of night. Leshy, snickering when Kallamar came storming into the room in a huff about the several holes he’d purposefully left behind to make Kallamar trip, just a little bit. Leshy, the youngest of the five. Leshy, with his eyes gouged from his head, screaming in pain on the floor as blood stained the green foliage that covered him, Narinder standing above him, one eye in each hand. “It doesn’t matter.” He did not explain further. The Lamb did not pry.

In which the Lamb visits Ratau for a game of Knucklebones, before departing on a crusade with Narinder to defeat Leshy again. Narinder and the Lamb find a strange totem in the woods, as well as an oddly familiar graveyard.

They converse about the Lamb's family a little bit.

They fight Leshy.

There is an argument over him.

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Eye gore mention (fairly non-graphic), semi-graphic-ish descriptions of injuries and death.

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journeyman-tier-fibercraft · 3 months

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Mum blanket is chugging along. I'm pretty slow at crocheting so I expect this'll take me at least a year but she really likes it so it's worth it.

#crochet #project: blanket 11

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queenshelby · 9 months

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Chemical Reactions (P. 13)

Pairing: Cillian Murphy as J Robert Oppenheimer x Student Reader

Warning: Age-Gap, Infidelity, Smut

Words: 4,566

Note: The fic is spoiler free and my own fantasy and imagination. It is not historically and scientifically accurate.

Previous Parts: 1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6; 7; 8; 9; 10; 11; 12

Two weeks later…

With some delay and following further investigations into your past and present, you finally arrived at Los Alamos and were shown around the civilian quarters by Officer Nichols.

Officer Nichols had been told to keep an eye on you, and when he made some remarks again about your integrity and relationship with Dr. Oppenheimer, you felt as though you were being singled out.

This, of course, did not surprise you as, at least for now, no one in the department believed that you were here on merit, and you knew that you had to make sure that, soon, you would be known for your work and intellect rather than the fact that you were sleeping with the man who oversaw the project.

Just like Robert Oppenheimer, you had a brilliant mind, and even your lecturers at Harvard, some of whom were here now, concurred with this.

According to Robert Serber, for example, there was a good reason Robert wanted you in Los Alamos, which was your good understanding of how atoms work. You were young and had an open mind for new-age physics. You had a belief that had not been tainted by the old teachings that were no longer relevant, and, most importantly, you had a great desire to progress in your career. You only learned from the best in the field, including Hans Bethe and Robert Oppenheimer himself, and this made you who you were.

As such, you were welcomed by most scientists in your field, and you, indeed, were not the only student working on the project. There were three of you now, and you all were once students of Robert Oppenheimer or Hans Bethe.

Since most scientists on the project were men, however, you almost ended up in the communications room by mistake, as Officer Nichols pointed out that, realistically, you had no place here. Physics was still a male-dominated field, and you quickly realized that even the living quarters assigned to all the female workers were rather primitive.

Like all the other single women, you were assigned to live at T-101, a civilian women’s dormitory that housed women civilians or non-military staff working for the Manhattan Project.

The dormitory was outside the designated project area, as were all of the scientist’s lodges of those scientists who arrived at Los Alamos with their families or who were well known and more important than you.

This, of course, included Robert, who had a large house located about three hundred meters from T-101 and, according to Lilli Horing, another female scientist you met during your first hour at Los Alamos, he and some of the other scientists occasionally hosted dinner parties, to which one was lucky to be invited.

“I don’t see Dr. Oppenheimer as a cook,” you joked, seeing that Lilli already knew that, before being assigned to this project, you had studied under Robert Oppenheimer himself and therefore had built a professional relationship with him.

“Of course, he doesn’t cook himself. There is staff here who cooks for everyone, and food is catered to the lodgings. That is, of course, unless the wives of these great minds are around. They seem to be bored here and cook and bake all day. I couldn’t imagine anything worse,” your newfound friend said with great amusement.

“Neither could I,” you told Lilli before she took you around T-101 and showed you to your room and the adjacent facilities.

***

Unlike many other women in T-101, you and Lilli each had your room with a bathroom you shared. Your space was set out primitively, and you were glad you took some books with you, although you had nowhere to put them.

In your room, there was a small bed and a small desk. You had army blankets, sheets, towels, and washcloths, all of which had the words “USED” written on them, making you chuckle.

“It stands for United States Engineer Detachment,” Lillie luckily informed you, and, no doubt, you would soon all have great jokes about your “used” linens.

“Now, we start to work at 9 o’clock, and you should probably report to your superior beforehand,” Lilli said before asking you who you were meant to report to.

“Doctor Oppenheimer,” you told her, causing her to laugh.

“No, I mean, who are you reporting to directly?” she chuckled.

“Dr. Oppenheimer,” you repeated before telling her you were assigned one of the plutonium research teams.

“You are a student, and get your team?” Lilli asked, surprised.

“Yeah, it is quite specific, however. We are only three people working on it, and I have done some research back at Harvard on a similar matter which I hope will come in handy now that my other professor has resigned from the project. Don’t ask me why it is relevant because Robert did not tell me, and I am sure I cannot tell you, but…’ you began to say, which is when Lilli interrupted.

“Robert?” she asked, surprised that you referred to Robert Oppenheimer by his first name. Only his wife Kitty called him that, whereas most older scientists called him Oppie, and the younger ones still used his full title as it was most polite.

“I meant Dr. Oppenheimer,” you corrected yourself before asking her where Robert’s office was so that you could report to him.

Ten minutes later…

Ten minutes later, after you cleared the project site’s security, you arrived at Robert’s office, which was centrally located between the laboratories and other buildings.

His secretary, Claire, let you into his office after confirming your name and position at the complex. Still, Robert did not notice you sneaking up on him as he was transfixed on one of the calculations presented to him by Hans Bethe.

“Good Morning, Doctor Oppenheimer,” you thus said while resting your hand on his shoulders, startling him, and, for a short moment, he even cursed before finally turning around to face you.

“You are here? Already?” Robert asked with surprise just as you smiled at him, caressed his face, and then attempted to kiss him, which he would not permit in his office.

“I missed you,” you told him nonetheless, and even though he missed you too, he could not help but chuckle.

“It has only been two weeks,” Robert told you, seeing that he had visited you in San Francisco two weeks ago.

“I know, but I am increasingly thirsty for your attention these days, so…” you began to say, causing Robert to pull you aside into a corner of his office that was, from the door, not visible to his secretary, he thought.

“You have no idea how much I have looked forward to this day,” Robert said without noticing that his secretary was looking through the small glass plate on the door to his office. “But we cannot do anything inappropriate here,” he told you, chuckling while now caressing your face.

“Why? Is this office bugged too?” you joked, seeing that this would not have been the first-time army officials were listening to you having sex.

“Not as far as I know, but my secretary can usually hear a pin drop, and you are not exactly quiet when it comes to our usual interactions. Despite, I have to get to work, and so do you,” Robert told you, trying to put you into your place, which is when you looked at your watch and shook your head.

“No, professor, we still have about twenty minutes before work hours commence, and I can guarantee that I will be working much more efficiently if my sexual needs are met,” you giggled, causing Robert to interrupt you.

“Fine. But you have to be quiet, and I have to be quick. Come on,” Robert told you before pulling you into another small room, being a side office of some sort, which was not quite as lovely as his own and belonged to one of the army officials who called in sick that day.

“Officer Kent, huh?” you asked as you found yourself inside this dingy, dodgy-looking office with the officer’s name written on the door.

“Well, he listened to us having sex in San Francisco, so it seems reasonable to use his desk now as a trade-off, wouldn’t you say?” Robert told you, and, at this moment, you were okay with that.

“Despite, I doubt that he would have planted listening devices into his own office, so maybe we have some privacy here,” Robert then joked, and you could no longer withstand it. You wanted him, even if he would immediately bend you over the desk without any foreplay.

“I suppose you could be right” You swallowed harshly just as Robert leaned against you, pressing you against the desk and kissing you again.

Your mouths were connected now. Your tongues were swirling, darting, and exploring each other while the kiss refused to end.

His hands were moving up your sides, gently pressing in against the swell of your breasts. At the same time, you dug your fingernails into his back and then grabbed hold of his neck, desperately pulling his face closer to you.

The smell of his cologne was intoxicating, and you were lost in a trance.

‘Come on, I want to taste you,’ Robert said after your lips drifted apart, and within a second, he lifted you onto the desk.

“You have been,” you pointed out, teasing and responding to his comment, but Robert laughed.

“You know exactly what I meant by that, and you also know that this is my favorite thing to do,” he said, placing a finger onto your soft lips before tracing the same finger over your body, slowly downwards.

Without bothering to undress you, he pushed your blouse beneath your breasts, massaging them and kissing them roughly before his hands slid beneath your skirt in haste, and he pulled down your panties.

‘So wet already, my love,’ he pointed out as he touched your naked mound. ‘Spread your legs for me,’ Robert ordered as he stepped back, and you complied with his request and watched on.

‘Okay, Robert. I am all yours,’ you said eagerly, waiting for him, with your breasts and mound exposed while he watched you contently before, with a smirk, approaching the desk again.

‘Spread your legs wider,’ he then demanded, and without thought, your legs parted some more, and his head disappeared in between them almost eagerly.

Without warning, his tongue immediately located the hood of your clit, causing you to scream out loud.

Your reaction made him smile as, with all of the anticipation, cold sweat beaded up on your brow.

‘You taste incredible as always,’ Robert groaned as his tongue kept swirling around your clit and then, occasionally, slid up and down in between your slit, lapping up your juices.

You flooded your channel as Robert almost sent you over the edge with his skilled tongue alone, and, at that moment, two of his fingers slid over your wet folds, slowly parting your well-lubricated lips and entering you.

‘Oh, Jesus, ’ you groaned as your flower opened and the invaders found their way to your g-spot.

He manipulated you, edging you slowly with his thrusting fingers and tongue. He had you on the brink, and you were about cum.

‘Robert! Fuck!’ you moaned again as chills ran up both your legs, and you trembled involuntarily. Your orgasm hit you immediately, fast, hard, and somewhat unexpectedly.

You came all around Robert’s fingers within five minutes, and while you were almost embarrassed by how quickly you came, he was rather pleased with himself.

‘I missed you and how needy you are for my touch,’ he observed as you finally came down from your high and gasped for air.

‘We will have much fun together here,’ Robert then said as you had finally recovered from your intense orgasm, following which he pulled you off the desk.

Then he stepped closer to you and immediately started undoing his belt buckle and opening his fly. With a smile on your face, you unzipped his fly. You grabbed the waistband of his pants and his briefs and began slowly tugging them down.

“I want to taste you now,” you said as, first, you saw his pubic hair, then the top of his cock, and as you pulled his briefs further down, his cock sprang forth in all its erect glory.

“There is no time for that now. We are running out of time, and I need to be inside of you,” he told you before pulling you off the desk and planting another kiss on your lips.

‘Now around and lean over the desk,” Robert instructed, and just after you complied with his request, he lifted your skirt.

“You get a better view than me. That’s not fair,” you teased, seeing that Robert could watch his cock disappear inside you repeatedly while all you could see was an empty chalkboard.

‘I do, and it is a pretty perfect view, actually,” Robert whispered as he slid his fingers between your thighs to rub your slit. You moaned loudly in response, ready and eager to feel him.

‘I cannot wait to fill you with my cum every day now, knowing that, when you are out working at the lab, you will still have it inside of you all day long’ he then groaned as his fingers slid back and forth gently in a teasing manner.

‘You know Robert, this could get very distractive for me,’ you told him while his eyes heated further as he gazed down at your wet slit, and his eyes devoured it as his hands grasped onto your thighs and slid upwards. His palms ran over your hips and circled back until he held your soft, round ass in his hands. With a light grunt, he squeezed it roughly with his fingers as his cock twitched between them.

‘I am certain that you will do just fine,’ he rasped thickly, and the thought of leaking his cum all day, every day, turned you on incredibly.

‘Hmm…Robert, ’ you moaned as his words seemed to break you from your daze as you looked over your shoulder. Your expression was that of someone who desperately needed to be fucked.

As your gazes met, he trailed one hand over your hip, sliding the tips of his fingers across your stomach. Tilting his head slightly, his hand slid low, and his palm brushed your mound before two fingers slid between your moist lips as he searched for your opening.

When he quickly found it and pushed inside of you, you reacted with a moan of approval. Your eyes widened, and your hands lifted to grip the desk before you to steady yourself as your entire body jerked.

He groaned at the feel of you. ‘You are so tight, fuck’ he told you thickly in amazement. His fingers pushed more profoundly, and you tensed further and cried out with lust.

‘Oh god,’ you moaned as his fingers explored your insides.

‘Shhhh, we don’t want anyone to hear us,’ Robert said as he slipped his fingers from you and raised his hand to drop them into your mouth.

‘Now, see how good you tase,’ he said, pulling them out and reaching for your hips to pull you closer. Once you were positioned where he wanted you, he leaned forward slightly.

Gripping his cock in one hand, he took hold of your hips with the other to hold you in place as he slid the head between your folds. It glided along your slippery gash until it reached your ass, then he slid it back toward your clit. He rubbed himself back and forth as your fingers dug into the desk.

‘I need you inside of me,’ you gasped with need.

‘That’s good because that is exactly where I want to be,’ Robert groaned before slipping his cock into your entrance.

Then, Robert gripped both of your hips in his hands and roughly pulled you against him as his shaft pushed deep inside of you while a long moan escaped him.

‘God, you're so tight still,’ he breathed again as you moaned loudly.

Slipping out slightly, he rocketed into you again, barely noticing your wince of pleasure as you moaned against his palm, which had now come up to your mouth to stifle your moans.

‘Fuck’ he breathed, loving the feel of your clenched walls around him, and when you were filled to the hilt, he let out a roar of pleasure as you cried out just as his hand had trailed away from your face.

Pausing only a moment to enjoy how it felt, he leaned over you and clamped his fingers over your mouth again as he roughly began to fuck you from behind.

You moaned into the palm of his hand as his cock slammed into you repeatedly as his breathing grew labored.

Burying his face against your neck, he slid his other hand between you to grip one of your breasts and massaged the soft skin before pinching your nipple. The action made your muffled cries of pleasure grow louder. The sounds only enhanced him, and he moaned against your ear as he plowed into you.

‘Do you like having me inside of you like this?’ he asked in a pant.

‘Yes, Robert. Fuck’ you moaned as he began to ram into you hard. Then he paused, then swirled his hips in a small circle.

‘Good,’ he groaned as a shudder rocked through him, and he began to viciously pound between your legs again, causing you to almost scream against his palm.

His lips parted against your neck as his body moved on top of you. He emphasized each thrust he made with his hips by grunting softly while uttering words of encouragement into your ear.

‘That's right,’ he panted. ‘Spread your legs wide for me,’ he groaned as he looked down between you.

When he saw his cock pushing between your folds, forcing its way in, he let out another low-pitched groan and stilled with only the tip inside you. Gazing down at it hypnotically, he slid in fast, then slowly pulled out until only the head was buried. Pushing forward slowly, he felt your hotly clutching around him, grasping at his shaft.

‘Oh my god…’ you moaned as he continued thrusting into you, and you knew you were close.

Lifting his head and straightening his back, he plunged into you hard and looked down at you. Your back was arched slightly, and you continued to moan loudly into his palm until you suddenly began to shiver.

‘That’s it, cum for me,’ Robert groaned as you came hard and fast and began twisting his hips as he went in and out of you.

After you came, he released your mouth and gripped it onto the sides of your waist. Losing himself, he began thrusting into you relentlessly until, finally, he came as well with a loud groan.

Hot spurts of cum jetted from his body deeply into yours, and as it flowed out of him, he stiffened and pressed himself as deep as he could get, pressing tight against your cervix. His entire body shuddered, and when it ended, he was still. His fingers eased away from your hips, and he pulled out, making some of his cum leak out of you almost immediately and thereby giving you a sensational feeling until, suddenly, you were interrupted by Robert’s secretary.

“Dr. Oppenheimer, there is a problem at the testing side,” she said while looking at you with disgust as you quickly collected your panties from the floor, and while she did not see what exactly you were doing, it was obvious to her.

“At this hour?” Robert asked before excusing himself to deal with the situation on hand, which, unbeknownst to you then, would change history forever. The techniques currently used by the team did not work, and you were one of the scientists brought to Los Alamos to fix it.

You mentioned it to Robert in the past when talking about stars, and this conversation with you on dark matter gave him ideas that he is now out to implement.

“Actually, Y/N, I want you to come with me and look at the problem. Maybe we can find a solution together,” he thus said, turning around and then reaching for your hand, which was a gesture that both surprised and confused you and his secretary who, when you left to follow Robert, made contact with Kitty.

“Do you remember the student you enquired about a while ago?” she asked Robert’s wife after she had picked up the phone, currently residing in San Francisco.

“Y/N Y/LN? From Robert’s department at Berkley?” Kitty ought to clarify.

“Yes. Her. She is here, at Los Alamos, working for your husband. I thought that you should know,” she told her, which, of course, gave Kitty something to think about.

#cillian murphy #cillian murphy x reader #cillian murphy imagine #cillian murphy smut #cillian murphy x y/n #cillian murphy x you #oppenheimer movie #oppenheimer #oppenheimer 2023 #oppenheimer au #j robert oppenheimer #robert oppenheimer #oppenheimer x y/n #oppenheimer x you #oppenheimer x reader #j robert oppenheimer x you #j robert oppenheimer x reader #robert oppenheimer smut

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timchalamet-devoted · 6 days

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Long Distance

I haven't had any energy to write recently, but I found this in my drafts from a while ago, so I thought I'd post it! I feel like it rants on a bit too much, so I hope it's alright. <3

Summary: Long distance is difficult, but you and Timmy power through

Pairing: Timothée x fem.reader

Fluff!

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Masterlist

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The familiar beep sounded through the silent room. It read 2:56 am on the screen of your phone, as you unplugged it from its charger and opened facetime, forcing your eyes open. Nothing yet. While waiting for the nightly phone call, you propped yourself up onto your elbows, and your eyes wandere to the right of you, where your thin, white curtains swayed and flapped slightly from the mild breeze that entered through the open balcony door; the night air cooled your hot skin, pleasant and blissful. Due to the transparency of the fabric, you could quite clearly make out the full moon, that cast its heavenly glow across your bed and your uncovered figure, blankets laying discarded somewhere on the floor, curtesy of the dense summer air. Despite the time, the roads below were alive with distant sounds of chatter, cars rushing by, teenagers emerging from another nightclub. You found London to be like New York: it was a city that, indeed, never slept.

You were snapped out of your thoughts as your phone vibrated in your hand, presenting you with a glorious sight. Not wanting to wait a moment longer, you quickly pressed 'accept', and a face flooded the screen. It was the face of your favourite person, the one you so longed to touch, and kiss and see, yet couldn't for another dreadful 2 months.

"Y/NNN!!!" His bright eyes shined at you.

"TIMMY!!"

He had the goofiest smile spread across his face, and at this point, so did you. The day had dragged on, boring and exhausting, but the thought of seeing this face kept you giddily ploughing through.

It was no secret that long-distance sucked, and unfortunately, you and Timothée were no exception to this burden of being actors. Timmy was in Budapest, working on Dune part 2, and at the same time, you were in London, filming your next project. You absolutely loved your job, it was one you dreamed of from the age of 11, however not being able to come home together with Timothée, or to hold him in your arms was heartbreaking for the both of you.

Your cheeks flushed red as you lay your eyes upon the gorgeous brown locks framing his face, the pools of green that were admiring you through the screen, and that toothy smile, that told you he was just as happy to see you.

"You look so beautiful mon amour"

"As do you," you smiled, feeling happier than you were all day. Sometimes, you didn't even need to talk during your calls; sometimes, it was enough to just look at each other and to know that the other was just a phone call away. Most of the time, however, you spent these blessed minutes making utter fools of yourself. But that was what you loved about your relationship: it was one where you trusted each other fully and loved every inch and aspect of each other. You two were practically best friends - and well you were. You understood each other like no one else could, never afraid that you would look silly or embarrassing in front of the other. There was no such thing. You could be as ridiculous as your heart desired, and Timmy would still look at you with pure adoration in his eyes and the same for you. You were eachothers safe spaces, of love and vulnerability. Although you never felt vulnerable around him; for you knew that he would do anything his power to protect you.

You spent a good while asking each other questions back and forth, suppressing the yawns that took over your bodies. Despite the longing, it felt good to talk to your boy, and to exchange your feelings of anwavering love for eachother, even though it was often accompanied by a silly gesture or a remark that only you would send you both into fits of giggles. At one point, Timmy pretended to pick his nose, pouting as he did. You instantaniously screenshotted this, smiling to yourself, knowing you'd soon assign it as your new wallpaper.

As your conversation went on, your eyes grew heavier by the minute, and so did Timothée's. You fell silent, simply gazing into his eyes, him staring right back. You could see the endless shades of green, dancing in his eyes, those eyes that said I love you.

You knew it long before, but now, in this moment of peace and yearning, you relished in the fact that you knew you wanted to spend every last one of your minutes with him. Your boy. Your Timmy.

#timothee #timothee chalamet #timothée #timothée chalamet #timothee x y/n #timothee imagine #timothee x reader #timothee fluff #timothee blurb #timothee fic

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luvvvivii · 6 months

Note

can we get a changbin taking care of really sick reader? i am suffering rn 😪

11.58pm — s.cb

pairing - changbin x gn!reader

genre - fluff, timestamp

wc - 398

warnings - reader is sick, like one usage of 'babe'

a/n - I'm soso sorry for getting this out so late ml 💔 hope this was up to your standards tho

synopsis - one stuffy night your stuck home sick. lucky for you, your wonderful boyfriend is here to look after you

[11:58pm] — "achoo!" your whole body jerked as your nose sniffled away under the blankets. you were trying so hard to be quiet, to not disturb changbin whilst he was working, but couldn't help the loud sneeze that erupted. you sighed and turned onto your back, looking up at the ceiling in melancholy. that was when you heard the door to your shared room creak open slowly. uncovering the blankets from your face, you see your boyfriend staring at you with sympathy in his eyes.

"babe, you sure you don't want me to stay here with you?" you nodded your head, but it seemed as if there was no point. changbin was already there by your side on the bed with tissues, medicine, and heated soup he had made prior to your current situation. you chuckled a little, so happy at the fact he cared so much.

"you don't have to do this binnie, I told you I'm fine." as if life was against you once again, you released a chesty cough upon saying those words, making changbin wince slightly whilst passing you tissues.

"even if you were alright, I would still want to be here by your side. so it's final! I'm staying right here in bed with you until you get better!" he laughed and handed you the soup to have and slowly took out the medicine for you to have.

you were always pretty weak, and getting sick wasn't a rare occurrence for you. that was why changbin was almost forced into learning how to look after you and cater to your needs (not as if he wouldn't have learnt it anyway). you felt bad for making him do such nice things for you, especially when he would usually have sharp deadlines and lots of melodies to submit as a producer. but no, changbin always had time for you. he would always make time for you.

"yn? are you okay?" changbin's voice snapped you back to reality, showing slight concern for your current state.

"hm? oh, yeah, I'm okay. just spaced out a bit."

"alright that's good. now, how about we get some rest?" he slowly tucked himself into bed under the sheets, giggling and getting all comfortable beside you.

"what about your project? didn't chan say he wanted you to send it in by tomorrow morning?"

"that can wait. what's more important right now is you."

#skz #stray kids #skz x reader #skz fluff #stray kids x reader #skz imagine #seo changbin #changbin #seo changbin x reader #changbin x reader #changbin x you #changbin imagine #changbin drabble #changbin fluff

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astolat · 4 months

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Chapters 9, 10, and bonus 11 are up! Hope all of you celebrating are having a lovely Xmas day, I am cozy in electric blanket with Winterfell ambience video going, drinking tea and proofreading more of this crazy story. \o/

#fic: the pack survives #game of thrones #fanfic #house stark #robb stark

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oleander-nin · 9 months

Text

A/N, not important: I hope y'all like this because I sure don't! Any criticism is welcome, constructive or not. This is supposed to be a gender neutral reader, so if I screwed up somewhere, please tell me.

-Ollie

Tw: stress

Words: 1156

Prompt(s) requested: 11(Calming down) & 20("I'm glad you're the one I fell in love with. I'd be lost without you.")

Summary: Donnie's stressed so you try to help him out

Bad thing after bad thing happened today. I grumble curses under my breath as we head home, scratching at the new wounds I gained during the fight. Stupid Hypno and his stupid magic rings. I hold my staff closer to my chest, my hands wringing the wood as I walk. Leo was loud as always, his words ringing through the air and piercing my ears. I glare at him when he tries to put his hand on my shoulder, pulling back. I just wanted to go home. I had so many projects I needed to finish. SHELLDON needed his next upgrade, my jetpack battle shell was busted from a previous fight, and Raph had broken yet another phone. My face pulls into a grimace. I had so many things to do.

I slide down the ladder into the sewers, walking the familiar path back to the lair. I keep my eyes forward, ignoring my brothers and their loud antics. My shoulders hunch, my hands still clenched tightly to my staff. The world felt too small, every little sound shooting into my head like little bullets. I grit my teeth and speed up a bit, trying to get to my lab. I needed to be in my lab.

I ignore my brother's cries for me to wait up, speed walking into the lair and to my lab. I crash into my chair, letting myself sit for a moment. Stupid battle interrupting everything. I exhale slowly as I turn to my computer. I let the monitor start up, my body jittering. My leg bounces at a constant rhythm, a metronome to the song of my silence. I grip the mouse tightly, moving the small icon back and forth across my screen as everything starts up.

It was too slow, everything was too slow. I needed to be done already, I had so much to do. I open up my code files, scanning through them. The usually soothing process of coding was putting me more on edge, my skin crawling as I type.

I slam my fist down on the desk as another error code pops up, my teeth grinding together. I slump back in my chair, rubbing the heels of my hands into my eyes. I couldn’t tell why nothing was working. By all accounts, it should be. The lines were precise and each segment was correct. But the code still refused to run.

I sat there for a while, staring up at the ceiling. I grit my teeth, my hands gripping the arm of my chair tightly. Nothing was working today. Was it my fault?

My eyes glide to the door as it hisses open. I watch (Y/n) walk in, their face pulled tight in concern. Of course it was. Mikey probably sent them.

I turn back to my computer, hunching over the keyboard as I grumble under my breath. I didn’t need anyone to ‘check up’ on me. I was fine. The world was just too loud right now. I continue to watch them out of the corner of my eye. They walk past me and into my room, messing with something on my bed. I turn my head, watching them openly now. What were they doing? They didn’t even say anything. My eyes continue to be trained on them as they come back out, one of my weighted blankets hanging over their shoulder. Oh.

They cross the room and hold the comfort item out to me, my eyes flicking between them and the blanket. I sigh, my shoulders falling. I take the blanket and swing it over my shoulders, sinking into the comforting weight of the fabric. (Y/n) hooks the chair they usually use with their ankle, dragging it over before falling into it. They lean back, spinning slightly as their toes push the chair back and forth. Their eyes shift to meet mine and I hold their gaze for a moment. The air in the lab was still, neither of us speaking. My body is still tense and I curl up in my chair. I spin my chair around so I'm no longer facing the code I was working on. If I saw another error code, I was certain I’d break something.

“You’re upset.” They remark, unhelpfully. I look at them, unimpressed.

“Impeccable deduction skills, Sherlock.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“No.”

They hum softly, their arms stretching above their head as they pop their back. I watch them for a moment, shifting in my chair. We both continue to sit in silence, my frustration growing. It wasn’t fair.

“I just don’t understand!” My voice surprises both of us. I don’t meet their eyes, gesturing wildly at the computer. “Nothing I do is working! It’s not fair! I’m a genius, so why can’t I figure this out!”

“Probably because you’re tired.” Their voice is soft, encasing my buzzing head in a blanket of words. It was a much nicer sound than the rumbling air vents throughout the lair. I shake my head. No, no. I wasn’t tired, I couldn’t be tired. There was so much to do. I needed to get it all done.

“I’ll sleep later, I just… Can you go make me some more coffee? I need to get this done.” My voice was more pleading than I wanted it to be. I scowl at myself, I wasn't supposed to let things like this show. Everything was falling around me and I couldn’t stop it.

“Coffee isn’t going to help, Don.” I shrug, turning back to my computer. I dismiss the error codes, looking back over the lines of code. I would be fine if I could just figure this out. I send a command to SHELLDON for my coffee instead.

I vaguely notice their head looking at my code, my body shifting slightly so they can see it better. The tightness in my chest was still there, but their presence was helping slightly. I start scrolling through my code again, looking for what caused the error.

“Are you using Python?” I glance at them before nodding. This specific project needed this language to achieve what was required the easiest. “Line one oh eight has ‘def’ capitalized.”

I blank for a moment, my mouse moving to the line. They were right. I fix the mistake before continuing to scroll through the code, slower this time. We both look through the code for more bugs together. (Y/n) points out some more flaws and I fix them. We reach the bottom of the code and my body tenses. I run the command, watching the screen load for a moment. I hold my breath. No errors pop up. It worked.

A huge sigh of relief leaves me as I push myself away from my desk, my head hanging down. I look at (Y/n), smiling. "I'm glad you're the one I fell in love with. I'd be lost without you."

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